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Skyrim Creation Kit Question

Alright, so I have no coding experience or anything, but I'd like to do some simple editing of a few Perk parameters.

For example, I'd like to add an effect to the first Destruction Mastery Perk (Novice Destruction, or whatever it's called) so that it will cause all Destruction spells to inflict 10% more damage. That's obviously a tentative figure; it'll take some fiddling to perfect. But that seems like it should be something extraordinarily simple; just add an effect to an existing value. Heck, I'd settle for just upping the damage modifier on the elemental-boosting Perks.

But I can't figure out how to do it! The CK wiki didn't seem to have any kind of tutorial on how to edit Perks, and a Google search hasn't yielded anything. Does anybody have some direction? I can't be the only one who'd like to tweak Skyrim's numbers rather than build stuff from scratch!

It's official: this is a great tool! I've beefed up the magic system a bit so that--with the exception of Conjuration, which is a little differently balanced to start with--all of the mastery level perks (Apprentice Destruction, Novice Destruction, etc.) now increase the potency of their respective spells by 10%, for a total of a 50% increase on top of any other boosting perks.

I also adjusted the casting times for Master level spells (again, with the exception of Conjuration, which isn't crippled by long charge times like the other schools) so that they now take 1 second to charge instead of 3. That's double the time for a non-Master spell, which means that they can definitely still be interrupted, but not so long as to be useless (and with the adjusted perks, they are quite a bit nastier, which makes the effort it takes to get them more worthwhile). That may need to be adjusted; I've got a lot of testing to do.

Some of the spells aren't affected by the perks that they should be (such as the Cloak spells) so I've still got some fiddling to get everything working, but I'm already pleased with my progress.

Would you mind sharing your modified files when you're done testing them? I haven't played a Destruction oriented mage yet, but from what I hear people are running into troubles with the damage/mana cost ratio using destruction spells from higher tiers.

Would you mind sharing your modified files when you're done testing them? I haven't played a Destruction oriented mage yet, but from what I hear people are running into troubles with the damage/mana cost ratio using destruction spells from higher tiers.

Basically what happens is that the conversion ratio is terrible, and almost any weapon is a more efficient and sustainable source of damage, even without perks, because you don't have to spend your whole mana (stamina) bar and wait for it to refill to deal damage again.

If you cheat the blacksmith/enchanting system you can get spells for free, but if you applied the same amount of enchanting to get a powerful weapon you get one that can oneshot bosses.

Also, most spells are very bread&butter, and the funny or utility stuff are in the shouts (freeze, stop time, diversion...) that are available to everyone. There's not much incentive to roll a mage in Skyrim.

Also, that superduper item you get at the end of Mage's Guild questset is linked to your level when you started it, so it will be only a couple of levels until the damage output is "outdated"

Would you mind sharing your modified files when you're done testing them? I haven't played a Destruction oriented mage yet, but from what I hear people are running into troubles with the damage/mana cost ratio using destruction spells from higher tiers.

Here is the link. My steam name is teachingfellow and the mod is called Tweaked Magic Mod. The actual file is named MagicMod; I didn't originally intend to share it, so sorry about the generic name.

EDIT: On the subject of magicka scaling, my thinking was that there are two ways to fix it: lower magicka costs for all spells via base cost and/or perks, which encourages spamming, or increase spell damage via base damage and/or perks so that you get more bang for your magicka-buck. I think higher damage is more fun and involved, since you should still benefit from/need magicka regeneration and potions while also getting the sense that you are more efficiently using your magicka, making your investments feel worthwhile. Also, spamming spells is by definition more boring than casting fewer, more damaging spells, and who wants that?

Given the way the game does math, I think that there's actually more than a 50% increase in effectiveness from this mod. However, you have to invest in the skills to get the benefit, which keeps the perks relevant and the stacking semi-balanced.

The adjustments to Restoration seem to affect some of the item enchantments (like Magicka regen) so investing in Restoration now offers more benefits than just better healing. I'm not 100% clear if the effectiveness of Turn Undead and similar spells (which affect creatures based on a base level) are improved, though wards are definitely affected. Given how slowly Restoration tends to increase, I'm hoping this actually makes it more attractive to invest in.

The Cloak spells aren't adjusted, because I can't quite figure out how to adjust them to make them be affected properly. Similarly, Runes aren't affected by all of the Destruction Perks, so I added a separate boost to the Rune Master perk. That will probably be left there regardless, as the runes are finnicky enough to use that, even with greatly increased power, most players aren't going to use them much, so they might as well be really good for when you bother to deal with them.

I've tested the mod primarily with my level 47 mage, and he's quite a nasty customer now. Mage Armor + Ebony Flesh now gives something like 600 armor (!) and Fast Healing now heals somewhere in the ballpark of 350 hp in one cast without having all mastery perks (overkill for a mage, but possibly better-balanced for a paladin-archetype). Incinerate inflicts 178 damage now, up from 90, which is still far below weapon potential, but combined with the added fire perk, area affects, etc. it proves to be very, very potent without being the one-hit-kill-snoozefest that you get with Smithing+Two-Handed.

Not sure how this affects enemy mages, but they may also be a lot nastier, so please let me know if they prove to be insurmountably tough. My current character is a level 16 paladin-archetype (who does use a lot of Restoration), and I don't know when I'll get around to trying out a more magically-inclined character again, so please let me know how this affects balance for lower-level casters.

Last edited by Drinking with Skeletons; 12-02-2012 at 05:32 PM.
Reason: Forgot to Address an Issue

One thing I forgot to ask for: if anyone could chime in regarding the effectiveness of this mod when using one-handed spells with weapons, I'd appreciate it. And if anyone knows how to adjust the Cloak spells, I definitely want to add that in as well.

EDIT: I think I've figured out the Cloak spells. Apparently they work by casting the "cloak" effect on the character, which is separate from the actual damage. The damage is "cast" when an enemy hits you, and is categorized as a separate spell that is not, by default, affected by any Destruction Perk. Those effects should now be affected properly.

Hello, I figured posting my question here would be better than starting a new thread. But I'm trying to make a mod that changes Draugr into Bandits,(or Vampires or Greybeards) just cosmetically. But I can't find any information on it, though I know it can be done because people have replaced spiders with bears and wolves.
Any help would be appreciated.